Aetna is providing physicians with electronic notices about patients' healthcare, such as warnings about potential drug-to-drug or drug-to-disease interactions. "Care Considerations" will now be sent through Aetna's secure provider website via NaviNet, Aetna has announced. Last year, more than 1.6 million Care Considerations were sent by phone, fax or mail to physicians who provided care for Aetna members. Care Considerations alert physicians to opportunities for improved care when care appears to have deviated from evidence-based medical best-practice standards, according to an Aetna release.
In radiology, automated worklist tools help ensure that the right study gets to the right radiologist in the least amount of time. However, most worklists lack the capability to filter exam interpretation assignments on the basis of insurance reimbursement.
Now a team of physicians from Staten Island University Hospital in New York has addressed the deficiency by developing a worklist tool that assigns studies based on a patient's insurance and a radiologist's credentialing status.
Trusera, a new social-networking website centered on health, has officially launched. The site features online communities and personalized health information, and allows members to endorse one another's contributions as a way to identify reliable sources of information. Trusera focuses on social networking and storytelling in an effort to foster communities in which users can learn from one another's experiences and seek out knowledgeable advice.
A growing number of people are turning to the Internet for mental-health counseling via instant messaging, e-mail exchanges or videoconferencing. Proponents of the trend cite convenience and anonymity as driving factors, but some mental-health professionals say the lack of face-to-face contact undermines meaningful therapy.
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, CA, uses the Packard Kids Connection Web site to prepare children for their stays at the facility. Nurses at Packard say the high-tech tool is invaluable when it comes to giving kids a sense of control and allaying their fears about the mysteries of surgery. The nurses also see the benefits of the Web site among teen patients, who they say seem more prone to worry and fearing worst-case scenarios.
Online second-opinion services offer patients consultations from specialists based on the medical records that they fax, mail or send via the Internet. The average cost is $500 to $1,500, depending on the number of radiology or pathology interpretations required. Patients then receive online access to a second opinion in about two weeks. One company that offers the service is Partners Online Specialty Consultations. Since POSC went online in 2001, about 10,000 patients have taken advantage of the service.